The NFL’s version of Don King outraged the high-horse police with his latest genius move.

Rex Ryan is a master promoter, so his admission Monday that he plans to name jaw-breaking linebacker IK Enemkpali a Bills captain for Thursday’s primetime showdown against the Jets shouldn’t have been shocking. He should have received a thorough round of applause for the sheer brilliance.

The decision, however, prompted the sanctimonious contingent to express disbelief. How dare Ryan glorify and reward a man who committed such a heinous act? Why would the coach disrespect Smith and the Jets in such a manner? Doesn’t Ryan have any morals?

The enraged holier-than-thou folks probably giggled like hyenas whenever Ryan entertained the New York-New Jersey region for the better part of six years with the Jets. Ryan is a good coach, who understands the entertainment element to all of this. This is a football game, not a G8 summit.

Rex Ryan knows football, which many NFL coaches do, but he also knows how to have a little fun - not the most common trait among the mostly bland head men in the league.

This is the NFL. The well being of the free world doesn’t hinge on Ryan’s captain-naming practices.

The notion that Ryan’s decision is somehow an insult to Smith is laughably misguided. Ryan, in fact, believes more in Smith than the current Jets decision makers. The Bills head coach wondered out loud to friends this offseason if the Jets would be open to trading Smith to Buffalo. The disrespected Geno card is nothing but white noise.

“I’ll get ripped … whatever,” Ryan said of naming Enemkpali a captain. “I do this all the time.”

Ryan spent many weeks giving fringe Jets players the distinction of being a game-day captain. He typically gives the nod to guys returning to their hometowns or facing their former teams. It’s really nothing new. In fact, inept tight end Matthew Mulligan, a card-carrying member of the infamous Alosi Wall of 2010, will also be a captain against his former team.

“If IK went out there by himself, maybe that would be a different statement,” Ryan said. “But that’s not what we do.”

Ryan’s act went from refreshing to entertaining to ultimately played out around here, but he’s great for a league filled with sleep-inducing, cliché-spewing nonsense. Football is entertainment. Ryan is as competitive as anyone, but he has never taken himself too seriously. He relates to people, which has been important to his professional success.

The Jets are just the latest opponent that Ryan is having fun with. He needled former Bills head coach Doug Marrone, whose decision to quit on his players backfired after Woody Johnson wisely opted not to hire him this offseason, a few weeks ago when the Bills faced the Jaguars in London. Ryan named his entire offensive line captains against Marrone, who is now a position coach for Jacksonville. It was a sweet zinger against a guy who abandoned Buffalo.

“He coaches his team,” said Bowles, who hasn’t decided whether Smith will be one of his captains on Thursday. “He can name whatever captain he wants.”

Marshall, who has been Smith’s most vocal supporter, declined to speak on behalf of the rest of his teammates, but any type of on-field retribution against Enemkpali, who broke Smith’s jaw over an unsettled $600 debt, appears unlikely.

“It’s just football,” Marshall said. “It’s not a soap opera. It’s not TMZ.”

Geno Smith has not started a game for the Jets since having his jaw broken.

(Ron Antonelli)

Enemkpali isn’t very good at football even if there are rumblings that his role might expand moving forward. You could make a legitimate case that he’s stealing money, so to speak, but Ryan’s decision to anoint him a captain for the next four quarters makes perfect sense.

No, he’s not condoning the player’s fist-a-cuffs. Anybody who believes that Ryan supports locker room brawls is either incredibly naïve or just plain stupid.

Nobody has more fun in a league that takes itself far too seriously than Rex. The holier-than-thou crowd needs to exhale and relax.

Besides, naming Enemkpali a captain might only be the first layer to this sordid tale. When asked whether he considered naming himself a captain against his former team, Ryan quipped, “We’re checking on that right now.”